Authore's note: the scene of Remus and Sirius sleeping on the couch was inspired by some fan art by Julia (thecheeseburgercat on AO3), and also thanks to Peter (Anrheithwyr on AO3) for helping me figure some stuff out at the end of the chapter! Also brief references to emetophobia.

/\/\/\/\/\

On Monday morning, Remus woke up already feeling panicked. He threw himself out of bed, tripping over his slippers and banging face first into the floor. Sirius and Spinnet both laughed, though Sirius helped him up.

"What a way to start your exams, mate," he said, reaching up like he was going to touch Remus's face before quickly dropping his hand. "Your nose is bleeding."

Remus covered his nose. "This is not an auspicious start!" As he ran to the bathroom he heard Spinnet wondering what auspicious meant.

Soon his nose was healed and he was ready for the day, though his tie was an utter disaster and he didn't realize he had mismatched shoes and socks on until halfway to the Great Hall. When he swore about his appearance, James very helpfully pointed out he had forgotten to brush his hair too.

"Oh no! This is—argh!" He began running his fingers through his hair, trying to get it untangled.

"Here." When Sirius stepped closer, Remus was afraid he would start running his fingers through Remus's hair; instead he undid the disastrous tie and retied it properly. "A little less messy." He tucked the tie in, patting Remus's chest where it was, which sent waves of those feelings through his body. Sirius had done that before a few times; unfortunately today it seemed especially… tingle-inducing.

"Th—thank you. How bad is my hair?"

"Worse than mine, better than James," Peter supplied. "On a different planet than Sirius's, but I think that's something we all knew."

Sirius beamed, raking his fingers through his own hair, the long silky locks floating back into place.

"Do you put magic on your hair to do that?" Remus grumbled as they began walking again.

"No, it's just the way Black hair is," Sirius replied. "It's in the blood. We've got craziness, bad tempers, and amazing hair. At least I got something good out of the otherwise unlucky gene pool."

Remus thought of his parents. Both his parents had rather… thin hair? That wasn't quite right, but neither of them had such thick shagginess to their hair like Remus tended to get. He wondered if he inherited that from someone in the family, or if it was because of the wolf. Thick shaggy fur as a wolf, thick shaggy hair as a boy.

At least he managed to get his hair somewhat under control, and with the tie done up properly Slughorn didn't take any points away from him when they went in for Potions. Sirius got points removed since he didn't have his tie tied at all, and his white shirt was untucked.

Just like his written exam for Easter, when Remus reached for the anti-cheat quill he had a stab of terror that it would proclaim him a cheater once more. He picked it up, trembling a little as he pressed it to the parchment, very aware that Slughorn was watching him too. As was someone behind him; he assumed Snape.

Carefully he wrote Remus Lupin wrote at the top of the paper, breathing a quiet sigh of relief before answering the questions and doing the short essay at the end. When he finished, he checked everything multiple times until Slughorn told everyone to put their quills down.

"That went well!" James said cheerfully when they left the classroom.

"I think I got everything wrong," Peter mumbled, tugging at his collar. "I panicked. I always panic on exams! I don't know what happens, I just—my mind goes blank! Someone asks me a question and my head decides to go completely empty!"

"Isn't it always that way anyhow?" Snape asked as he passed by.

"Better an empty head than one full of grease," James shot right back.

Since Potions let out early, and they didn't have Charms until eleven, the four of them went into one of the courtyards to hang out until their next exam. Remus sat on one of the low walls, hunched over his Charms book, tuning out whatever his friends were doing. Which, thankfully, was only turning some rocks into mice and trying to organize a race with them. The mice kept getting away so they would simply get more rocks. This kept up until a Prefect swung by, demanding to know why there were dozens of mice running around the inner corridor. James replied they were practicing for their Transfiguration exams.

"That's a first year exam," the Prefect said, looking down his nose at James.

"He's a first year," James said, pointing at Remus who jerked his chin up, glowering.

The Prefect sighed. "Don't give me that, Potter, I know perfectly well who all four of you are. Stop releasing mice in the castle."

"Isn't this courtyard actually outside?" Sirius asked. "So we're not really releasing mice in the castle."

Ten minutes later, and ten points lost, they were headed to Charms and Remus pointed out they really should stop arguing with Prefects. Sirius said he'd never do that since arguing with Prefects was far too fun.

"I like to see the different colors their faces turn," he explained. "So far this term I've collected two different shades of pink, two red, one purple, and almost one green."

"How'd you get someone to turn green?" Peter asked.

"Yes, Sirius, how did you turn a Prefect green?" James grumbled. "I wonder!"

"James and I were practicing some spells and, er, the pimple jinx might have gotten a little out of hand—"

"A LITTLE?" James demanded. "It was painful and the pus running everywhere was disgusting."

"When was this?" Remus asked, very confused. Then he realized he knew the answer, and said it before they could "Let me guess, I was at Study Group?"

Sirius winked. "Got it in one. Must have been a Wednesday, since Petey wasn't there."

"I'm very glad I wasn't," Peter moaned, clutching his stomach. "I think I'm going to turn green."

"On the bright side," Sirius said, ignoring Peter, "I think I've gotten the jinx down pat. I need to try it out on a Slytherin sometime to be sure…"

After Charms they had plenty of free time before their practical Transfiguration exam since they didn't have History. The four of them opted to steal lunch from the kitchens then go out to Fort Dragon where they could eat and Remus could practice for the exam. He spent a long time transfiguring various objects and getting very sweaty. He took off his sleeveless jumper and tie, and even unbuttoned the first couple of buttons on his shirt and rolled the sleeves up a bit.

He probably practiced a bit too much, as when they got to the Transfiguration classroom he was rather worn out. At least he wasn't the first one up, or even the second. He was able to rest while Sirius, Lily, Colgate, and Inkwood all went. When it was his turn he was very anxious but got all the spells done in the first go, even the most difficult ones they had only recently learned.

The rest of the day was spent in his books, especially Herbology and Defense. He went through all his notes, recited spells, and stayed up probably far too late—long after everyone else had gone to sleep. Which meant he was utterly exhausted in the morning, the dark circles under his eyes a bit more pronounced than usual. Outside the full moon time, that is.

While the heavy rain meant the greenhouses weren't hot, it also made things more annoying. Remus kept having to push back his dripping sleeves in order to write without the water running onto his paper. The rain was rather chilly, so after returning to the castle and getting dry clothes on, the Marauders sat as close to the common room fire as they could get. One of the Prefects had started it earlier due to the chill in the air, since it wasn't usually lit this time of the year.

Remus fully intended to study for Defense, and had gotten his book out… except Sirius sat next to him on the love seat, leaning against him; whether for warmth or because Sirius was tired, Remus wasn't sure. Either way, it was extremely cozy and it didn't take long for Remus to drift off, his head on Sirius's shoulder. When he came to a little bit later, he felt Sirius's head on top of his, Sirius's arm had slipped a little behind him, and some of Sirius's hair fell into his face. James and Peter were on the couch nearby, playing cards.

I should pull away from him, Remus thought before simply closing his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of being curled up against Sirius. He knew it was probably wrong to… lie about that, to pretend to still be asleep to make the moment last longer but… it felt so nice.

How can this feel so different than it did with Peter? he wondered, shifting his head a little so Sirius's hair wasn't tickling his nose. He had curled up with Peter on a couch before, both of them sleeping—but that felt very different than this did. Very, very different.

He could hear Sirius's quiet breathing, hear his heartbeat. He smelled a little bit of the rain, and also clean clothes, and his normal scent all mixed together. His arm behind Remus's back was very warm, pressed gently along Remus's lower back. At least his hand hadn't fallen too low, otherwise Remus probably would have died.

Listening to his friend's heartbeat drew him back into sleep; he had strange, foggy dreams that made him feel extremely awkward when he was awoken for lunch. Remus complained about falling asleep and not being able to study, trying his best to hide how flustered and uncomfortable he was. Hoping Sirius thought that the heat radiating off of Remus's body was from sleeping in front of the fireplace and not sleeping against him.

Sirius didn't seem at all flustered, nor did he seem to notice that Remus was. He bounced into his usual self after waking up, teasing Remus about how he needed his sleep, and grumbling about having Defense exams, wishing they didn't have to have exams at all. Thankfully, he also didn't seem too bothered about having been snuggled up like that on the couch with Remus. The only thing he really said was how it was a nice nap, no comment on being half on his friend while sleeping. Then again, he often shared a bed with James, so Remus supposed it wasn't as strange to him.

Now if only I can stop feeling so strange about it, he thought as they headed to lunch, his body still seeming like it was electrified for whatever reason. A reason that he didn't want to think about. It means nothing. It means absolutely nothing.

He repeated this to himself until managing to convince himself it was true.

/\/\/\

Dear Miss Fawley, 5/6/73

Since I'm not seeing you tonight, I thought I would write to you about what happened last week. I don't know if anyone at the school contacted you. On Thursday I faced my boggart and it was absolutely horrible. I'm still shaken up by it, though thankfully I'm able to focus on my exams more or less. It was nothing like I expected. I expected it to be the moon or perhaps the wolf that attacked me.

First I think I should tell you what else happened. You know about the kraken that Peter faced on Tuesday. That interrupted class so I didn't see most my classmates' boggarts until Thursday. One of them apparently is afraid of werewolves. The boggart turned into a werewolf right in front of me and I thought I was going to scream. Or howl. The boggart howled and I felt it inside of me, which scares me. I didn't react though. But it also dredged up memories of when I was bitten, so when I faced my own boggart I was really especially upset.

Anyway, my boggart apparently is killing my friends. I suppose this might be normal for creatures like me but it also made me feel more ostracized from my classmates. Everyone else is afraid of snakes or fire or kraken, and I am afraid of murdering my friends. Which I don't even know how to deal with! I was unable to fight the boggart. I almost passed out. Professor Prewett had to take me to the hospital wing.

I'm sorry for this rambling letter. Part of me thinks I shouldn't send it, but I also realized tonight when I didn't get to see you how much I needed your thoughts on the matter. I'm very sorry if this is bothering you. Feel free to wait until next Tuesday to talk to me about this.

Yours,

Remus

/\/\/\

On Wednesday morning the second year Gryffindors didn't get to sleep in like they usually did, as they had their written Astronomy exam set for nine am. As Remus had stayed up very late, he was once again exhausted. His head whirled as he tried to remember the apparent magnitude of various stars, worried he was mixing Sirius up with Regulus due to the brothers, though after he left he was a bit panicked he mixed Regulus and Rigel up.

As soon as they left the classroom Remus yanked his book out, flipping through. "Oh thank Merlin," he muttered.

"I don't see how you can remember anything," Peter said when he saw what Remus was looking at. "I messed those up so bad. And I completely failed at answering what the difference is between, um, absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude."

"It's how magnetic the stars are," James said.

Peter's eyes went enormous. "What?! No, I—I thought it was their brightness—"

"It is their brightness," Remus said, elbowing James who doubled over laughing. "Ignore him."

"I'm definitely losing marks for my paper," Sirius said. Remus gave him a suspicious look. "I said the apparent magnitude of Sirius is negative 1 point 46."

"That's corr—" Remus began but Sirius cut him off with, "And that the apparent attitude of Sirius is very cool."

Peter giggled while. James let out a loud 'ha!' then, "Excellent." Remus rubbed his forehead, not saying anything.

Sirius grinned. "I doubt Ol' Springy will like that."

"Why do you do things like that?" Remus asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" he replied immediately.

Remus didn't have an answer to that and gave up. If Sirius wanted to purposely lower his grades, that was his affair. At least Charms was the practical exam, which Sirius (probably) wouldn't purposely mess up, though when Peter emerged from the classroom he was almost as pale as Remus.

"I failed!" he moaned, as James gave him a quick pat on the back before hurrying in for his turn. Peter collapsed on the bench next to Remus, burying his face into Remus's shoulder. "Can one of you kill me now? I might as well be killed, 'cause otherwise I'm gonna be repeating my second year."

Remus slipped his arm around Peter. "I'm sure it's not as bad as that."

"It took me over five minutes to even remember the engorgement charm!" Peter wailed into Remus's arm. "Then another five minutes to even get it right! Then—THEN!—I couldn't shrink it back down. Flitwick had to do it for me."

Remus winced, glad Peter couldn't see his face. "You'll pass," he promised. "You managed the other spells well enough, didn't you?"

Peter raised up, leaving a damp spot on Remus's sleeve from where he had been crying. "Sorta. None went perfect except the levitating charm, I managed that one real well." He wiped his face off on his own sleeves, sniffling.

Sirius leaned across Remus's lap which was not okay. "You'll be fine," he said. "If Bulstrode can pass, you certainly can. He's thicker than wood."

Peter glared. "Great. I'm better than Bulstrode. Wow. Thanks."

"What? You're better than loads of people but if I say 'hey you're better than loads of people' you wouldn't believe me."

"I… well, no."

Sirius pat Peter's arm. Remus pressed himself back against the wall, wishing Sirius wouldn't do things like this. "You are better than loads of people. Besides, you can do things nobody else can in the school."

"Like what?"

"How many second years have mastered the tripping jinx as well as we have?" he asked.

"That isn't exactly a compliment," said Twycross from where she waited nearby. "The tripping jinx is not on the curriculum!"

"Neither is being a snob, but you've got that down pat," Sirius said, batting his eyelashes.

Twycross harumphed, though David and Spinnet snickered.

Soon James waltzed out, chest puffed out as he bragged at how well he had done. With that, the four of them swung by the kitchens to steal food then went to the Pits Passage to hang out, as it was still raining heavily. As they sat there eating, Remus stared at the book open in his lap but he wasn't reading; he was thinking about the pit down farther. The whispering. He needed to do research before going back down there, just in case, however…

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself," James said.

Remus nervously tore at his chicken, trying to figure out the best way to bring this up. "Do—do you remember me mentioning the—the whispers and something moving? Down in one of the pits?"

"Considering I've had nightmares about it, yeah," Peter said.

Remus was startled. "You… had nightmares?"

"Um, some. Of that, and the thing I saw in the one room." Peter hunched over. "It's creepy."

Maybe I shouldn't mention it then, Remus thought except James asked him about what he was wanting to say, and Sirius poked at him until he talked again. "I—well, I went down. That pit. To see."

"You did?" James's mouth hung open a little. "When? How?"

"Um, not that—last week," Remus answered. "With a LiftAway, those work very well." He decided to definitely keep Aegis out of this, even though he thought if he told them someone else heard the whispering they might believe him more. "Anyway, guess what?"

"There was something down there," Peter said, dropping his sandwich.

"N—no?" Remus tilted his head. "If I had found something I would have said so. Er, I mean I did find something. Not anything that… moved, though. I found tunnels."

"Tunnels?" James's head jerked up at that, eyes shining.

"Like the one we found before?" Sirius inquired.

"Sort of, but not quite." Remus wiped his hands off on a napkin, getting excited just thinking about it. "Tunnels as in plural. It's like a maze down there. I didn't explore very far. I thought perhaps sometime next week we could go down there and check it out?"

James snorted. "How about tonight?"

"No. Not until after exams." James folded his arms, looking like he wanted to argue. "Please? Don't make me regret telling you now instead of waiting."

"How about we don't explore them," Peter suggested. "Tunnels blasted into a maze underneath Hogwarts that nobody else seems to know about? That sounds dangerous to me. The other tunnel caved in. What if those cave in?"

"I'm all for it," Sirius said cheerfully. "Maybe a compromise of this weekend. Saturday morning? That will give us plenty of time to explore. Then in the afternoon we can work on the prank, and figure things out."

James and Remus could both agree to that, while Peter tugged at his hair, insisting that it was a very bad idea, though reluctantly agreed to join them since he hated being left behind.

/\/\/\

Thursday morning dawned with the seemingly unending downpour lightening up to a gentle sprinkle. The grounds were extremely muddy, though, and as the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff second years dashed to the greenhouses, more than a few slipped and fell, Remus included. Mud coated his clothes when he slunk into the greenhouse and while Sprout explained what they were doing, he did his best to wipe as much mud off as he could.

The practical exam for Herbology was fairly simple, at least. Identifying leaves or roots, repotting a couple of plants, trimming, etc. A lot of it was sort of brainless for Remus, and he went through the actions while thinking about various things. One corner of his mind focused on what he was doing, another corner was thinking about the boggart incident as well as the memories from seeing Twycross's, another corner was on how sleeping against Sirius felt and how wrong it was to enjoy it as much as he did, and the fourth corner was worrying over his Defense exams.

Whatever was wrong with him was getting worse, and the thought of being alone in a room with Professor Prewett was… nerve-wracking, to say the least.

On the way back to the castle, James slipped in a particularly large mud puddle. He flailed and grabbed Sirius for balance but only succeeded in taking him down with him, the two of them wallowing in the mud for several seconds. Peter and Remus tried not to laugh while they helped their friends up. They were both caked in mud. Sirius wiped mud from his eyes, grinning.

After a hot shower and clean clothes, Remus settled into the common room with his books. Only a few more exams, he thought, chewing his lip. Defense, Astronomy, Potions, History, Transfiguration. Then… that was it. The exams were over for the year. Then only two weeks before he went home for the summer. It was hard for him to believe his second year was almost over. It felt like it had gone by so fast—had it already been almost eight months since his secret came out with the Marauders? Already?

And everything else that happened this year, he thought later that day, as he waited outside the Defense classroom. It was really strange to think about how much he had changed since the end of his first year. He was getting better at talking to people, and felt more comfortable teasing his friends—and pranking them. His occlumency ability had certainly grown!

I wonder what I'll be like next year. He crossed his legs, foot jiggling as he thought about what his third year might reveal. The thing he wanted most to happen was girls. Namely, him starting to like them, having interest in them, wanting to date them, holding hands, kissing, having those thoughts about girls like he should, and the wrong thoughts stop.

Please stop, he thought when Sirius burst from the classroom, looking immensely pleased.

"I did amazing!" he laughed, knocking into Remus as he fell onto the bench next to him. "Prewett said my ability is very impressive."

"Your ability in what?" James asked. "Being an idiot?"

Sirius huffed. "No!" He straightened up, brushing his trousers off. "All right, so my ability to accidentally set things on fire. That's what he said was impressive."

James, Peter, and Remus all laughed. "He's not wrong!" James giggled.

"What did you set on fire?" Peter asked.

Sirius pressed his lips thin. "I don't want to talk about it."

Remus narrowed his eyes, thinking. "You—you didn't set Professor Prewett on fire, did you?" When Sirius pointedly didn't answer, Remus covered his mouth. "Oh my God, you did."

"Brilliant one!" James laughed, clutching his sides as he almost fell off the bench.

"Merlin's beard, how'd you manage that?!" Peter demanded as he, too, laughed.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Sirius protested.

"I'd hope not!" Remus snickered.

Too soon, though, it was Remus's turn and his amusement died down when Prewett shut the door. He had a singed hole in his shirt sleeve. He wasn't wearing robes, like the other teachers did for the exams; he was only in a button-up shirt and grey slacks, looking probably far too casual for a teacher giving exams… but also looking far too nice.

After Remus signed in, Prewett explained what he wanted him to do, giving an outline of the order of spells. Remus faced the training dummy, performing the offensive spells first without any trouble. Then Prewett shot some spells at Remus who easily went through the defensive spells. Then Prewett had him face the training dummy, having him do spells based on what dark creature Prewett said.

"All right, now pretend it's a boggart," Prewett said.

It was so much easier staring at a training dummy than it was his dying friends. "Riddikulus!"

After a few more spells Prewett clapped his hands. "Very good, Mr. Lupin! Your knowledge and ability within this realm are outstanding." He gave Remus a pat on the shoulder and Remus was very glad this was his last class until midnight, since the shoulder pat filled him with warm pleasure. Part of him—a tiny part, a wrong part—wanted Prewett's hand to stay there.

"Th-thank you," he said, resisting the urge to run away.

Prewett opened the door and Remus gladly scurried out, head ducked to try to hide the heat in his face as he sat back down. After a moment, he couldn't stand it another second and told his friends he'd be right back; with that he rushed to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. His body trembled a little, and his shoulder was on fire from where Prewett had touched. On top of that, his body tingled as he thought about Prewett's compliment.

Not good, not right. Remus leaned against the wall, tugging at his shirt to encourage airflow to try to cool down.

After what felt like an eternity he returned to his friends, somewhat calmed down though still rather wobbly.

/\/\/\

Remus spent the rest of Thursday studying (and avoiding thinking about things), or at least that's what he intended. When the Marauders went to the Great Hall for supper, a Prefect was waiting outside the doors. It was the boy who had helped Remus before—Shacklebolt. When he spotted the four of them he got a very handsome smile on his face, approaching them to inform Remus that he was needed in McGonagall's office. Just Remus.

Nonetheless, his friends walked him to the office. When he knocked, it was not Professor McGonagall who told him to come in. Despite the fact his first thought was that the voice belonged to Fawley, he was still surprised when he opened the door to find her there.

"M-Miss Fawley?"

"Hullo Remus. And the others too. I know they're there, even though I asked to see you alone. Thank you for being supportive of your friend, however I must speak to Remus alone."

Remus shut the door behind him and as he stepped towards her, she got up to put her arms around him. He hugged back, feeling grateful for the hug but also very confused.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, suddenly worried something happened. Did something happen to one of his parents and everyone thought Miss Fawley would be the best choice to tell him?

"Yes," she said, sitting back down in the chair and motioning for Remus to sit as well. "I received your letter about an hour ago and thought it best to come to talk to you. Arthur is fine, he's at my house resting. I'll send him on his way tomorrow or the day after, whenever he's completely rested."

Remus sat, perplexed. "My letter? Is that why you're here?"

She reached out, touching his cheek gently. It felt very nice. Not the hot-wobbly-confusing nice that Prewett's hand had, but a cool, gentle, motherly sort of nice that he wanted to lean into. "I thought it best if we talk immediately, instead of waiting until Tuesday. You sounded rather distressed over what happened. Not that I blame you. It sounds like it was an extremely difficult time."

Remus shifted in his seat. "Oh. Y—yes. It… it was." He was embarrassed by what he had told her now. "It—I wasn't meaning you needed to—to come to me…"

"I know." She settled back, hands in her lap. "As I said, I thought it best. If you wanted to talk about it."

Talk about it? Yes. He did. Also no, he didn't. He wanted to tell her every little detail but not speak a single word about it. He wanted to tell her about how his friends looked, as well as do his best to pretend it hadn't happened.

"If you don't want to talk, you don't need to," she promised him.

Remus looked down at his lap where his fingers were twisting into the hem of his shirt. "Maybe it would be better if you saw everything yourself," he said quietly.

"If you're sure you want to go through that again…"

I don't. He squeezed his eyes shut. "It's fine." It would be easier to show than explain, and within a minute he was back in the classroom, seeing Twycross's boggart. That memory only lasted a moment before it shifted to when he was alone, and James was staggering towards him—

Then the memory ended.

"It—it wasn't done," he said. "The memory wasn't over, you didn't need to end it. I was… okay." That was a big fat lie.

Fawley raised her eyebrows. "You're the one who kicked me out, Remus. I didn't leave on my own."

Remus's mouth hung open. "I—I wasn't… I didn't mean to!"

"You must have done it subconsciously due to a very bad memory being shown," she explained. "Which is very advanced. That isn't something I'd expect until you've been training for at least four or so years."

"Oh."

Fawley scooted her chair closer to his. "I don't need to see any more. I assume Peter and Sirius were… similar."

Remus nodded then swallowed. "Yes. They—Sirius—his throat…"

Fawley was stroking his hair again and Remus leaned into her hand, his body aching at the comforting touch. He never wanted it to end. He wanted her to put her arms around him so he could cry and be held, like a little kid. His nose began burning a little at the very thought.

"You shouldn't have gone through that."

"Professor Prewett didn't—didn't know!"

"No…" Fawley trailed off, going quiet as she tried to figure out how to explain it. "I'm not meaning that Fabian shouldn't have allowed it. I mean… I am very sad that that is your boggart. Fears are—fears are hard, and sad, and traumatizing, but you shouldn't have to have something that horrible."

Remus made a slight whining sound when her hand pulled away and he bit his tongue. "Professor McGonagall said something similar. But it… it's part of… being what I am."

"May I say something?" she asked and Remus said of course she could. "I know this isn't a situation that gives much hope, but think of it this way. Your boggart is your friends being… hurt. Your biggest fear is that you'll do something to them, and not something happening to you. It isn't someone killing you, it isn't you turning into a werewolf, it isn't the werewolf that bit you. Your fear is born out of concern for them. It is a very unselfish fear." Her hand went back to his cheek. "You're a very loving boy, Remus."

Remus hadn't thought of it like that, and his chest began hurting again in a good way. He once again wanted to cry, and it took a lot of effort not to.

They talked for a while longer, Remus losing track of time completely until Fawley said it was nearly six and that he probably needed supper. He hugged her, thanking her for coming in and helping him feel better; he had been slowly recovering from the incident, and what Fawley said helped so much.

The others were waiting for him, having not gone to supper at all since they didn't want to go without him, and were worried about the meeting. Remus said it was personal, but that it was very much so needed.

"You look a lot cheerier," Sirius noted as they headed back to the Great Hall.

"I… feel a lot better," he admitted.

Sirius put an arm around him, pulling him in. "Good."

Remus let himself enjoy the feeling of Sirius holding him for a few seconds before pushing him away, telling him that his armpits stank and he really needed to learn a deodorizing spell. Sirius responded by lifting his arms up and chasing Remus all the way to the Great Hall, both of them laughing.